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Texas man, subject of Netflix doc, ordered released after 11 years behind bars

The court granted Powell a new trial after it determined his rights were violated when prosecutors withheld key evidence about a jailhouse informant.

George Powell (left) is pictured with his fiancé, Tamara Parson, and her daughter, Ciara, in December 2018. Powell was convicted of armed robbery in 2009 but was granted a retrial after a judge found his due process rights had been violated; this week, the court ordered he be released as he prepares for his case.(Tamara Parsons)

This week, the Court of Criminal Appeals denied Powell's request to argue his innocence. But it did grant his request to be released from prison to prepare for his trial on the outside. Innocence Project of Texas Executive Director Mike Ware called the release order a win and said his client will have the chance to again argue that he is innocent of the crime.

"It is disappointing that they didn't address [his innocence]," Ware told The Dallas Morning News. "But I'm very pleased that they found that the prosecutors committed misconduct, because they clearly did, and it was so egregious that he deserves a new trial."

"We will not stop fighting until we receive George's full exoneration."

The robbery in question occurred at a Killeen 7-Eleven on June 9, 2008. A man in a white shirt, captured on the store's security camera, threatened the cashier with a gun and made off with cash and cigarettes. Powell was convicted of the crime and sentenced to 28 years for aggravated robbery.

But forensic scientists have questioned the expert's use of PhotoModeler, often used to reconstruct auto accident crime scenes, to determine the robber's height. This "non-science," as one analyst called it, was included in the Netflix documentary Exhibit A, which focused on dubious forensic tools.

Moreover, the prosecutors failed to tell Powell's defense team that their informant was offered a reduced sentence in return for his testimony, which the informant then denied on the stand. The court granted Powell a retrial on this second factor, saying his due process rights were violated; it did not address the forensic methods in its orders granting retrial and release.

1/4George Powell (left) is pictured with his girlfriend, Tamara Parson, and her daughter, Ciara, in December. Powell was convicted of armed robbery in 2009 but was granted a retrial this week after a judge found his due process rights had been violated. (Tamara Parsons)

2/4George Powell is shown with his girlfriend, Tamara Parsons, and her daughter, Ciara. George Powell is 6-3 — much bigger, he says, than the man who robbed a 7-Eleven and other convenience stores in Killeen in 2008. (Tamara Parsons)

3/4Grant Fredericks conducted measurements of George Powell at the request of the Texas Forensic Science Commission. Above is an excerpt from his report in which an image of Powell (top) is shown superimposed into video footage of a convenience store to demonstrate the height difference between him, and the man (below) who robbed the store. (Texas Forensic Science Commission)

4/4George Powell is shown in a Texas Dept. of Criminal Offenders photo. George Powell is 6'3. He's a big, broad guy. Much bigger, he says, than the guy who robbed a 7-Eleven and several other convenience stores in Killeen in 2008. Powell, his lawyers and their experts contend that surveillance video in those stores prove someone much smaller than Powell robbed those stores and that he should not be serving 28 years in prison.
[ EDS NOTE: SID Number: 07040098 -- TDCJ Number: 01612668 -- Name: POWELL, GEORGE ROBERT III -- DOB: 1973-01-14](TDCJ)

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Ware said Powell will soon be transferred from the Albert Hughes Unit in Gatesville back to the local lockup in Bell County, where the trial took place. Bell County is in central Texas, about two hours south of Dallas. There, they expect the terms of the bail to be such that will allow Powell to released.

"George has spent 11 years confined because of their prosecutorial misconduct," Ware said. "There's no remedy for that."

Ware said Powell's attorneys have asked that all lawyers in the Bell County District Attorney's Office be barred from prosecuting the case a second time: "Hopefully we will get an honorable, experienced, and fair-minded special prosecutor."

Powell's fiancé, Tamara Parsons, said he could be home within 10 days depending on the conditions of his bond. She's started a GoFundMe to help Powell with transition costs as they prepare for his retrial, for which a date has not been set.

"George Powell will be coming home in the next ten days, pending bond. Tamara and Ciara are anxiously awaiting his return, as they have been by his side through the last 6 years. This fund is intended to assist George and his family with the transition," the GoFundMe page states. "George has nothing. No clothes. No car. No job. Nothing. Let's all come together to help fund his transition home, and get George back on his feet."

Lauren McGaughy. Lauren has covered Texas politics for four years, focusing on everything from K-12 education to state gun laws.
She currently writes about criminal justice, state courts and issues pertinent to the LGBTQ community. She previously worked for The Houston Chronicle and in Baton Rouge, where she covered Louisiana politics for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. She loves cats and comic books and cooks a mean steak.